Half Past Five.

Chapter Thirteen: Defenses And Willow Trees.

“How'd it go?” Eddie asks her when she places the lunchtray at his table. He stuffs a fry into his mouth, waiting for the girl to continue.

“How'd what go?” Dustin chimes in, taking a swig of his juice, Mike, Erica, Lucas all staring at Elijah, waiting for her to explain. “And since when do you sit with us?”

“Quiet, Henderson. She can sit where she wants.” Eddie shushes him, Dustin rolling his eyes at his friend's comments.

“It went great! We talked for a bit, I explained to him how he made me feel, and I told him that I was wrong as well. I apologized. So things are better now, we're going back to the auto shop tomorrow to see if they have the cable. So everything is sorted, thank you so much for the advice.”

“Of course, Leah, I'm always happy to help—”

“Can somebody please explain what we're talking about? Because right now you've got four pairs of ears who are listening, but who doesn't understand at all.” Dustin states.

“The fight I had with Billy. Anyway—”

“Hargrove?” Lucas quickly interrupts, looking at Elijah with wide eyes. “Like, Max's brother Billy? That asshole?” He rebukes, his face scrunching with disapproval, a glare directed towards Elijah.

“It's not a big deal guys, we're friends—”

“Friends? You're friends with Billy?” Mike interrupts, Elijah rolling her eyes at the unnecessary commentary. “It's your funeral.”

“What's with the castigating guys? He's not a bad person, maybe if you got to know him—”

“Listen sweets. Of course you're going to think he's the best thing on this planet because he's attractive, and you're popular. He's going to promise you the sun and stars, he's going to seem like the greatest guy on this earth. But people like us, the outcasts? We don't get the luxury of experiencing what he can be like when he's trying to get a quick fuck. We don't see the nice side of him, we've only seen the bad side.” Erica snaps at her, Elijah baffled by the audacity.

Her situation has nothing to with them, and they have no right reprimanding him when he's not even here to defend himself.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me, Elijah. Not all of us got to have great experiences with him, because believe it or not, he's actually a dick. He's a bad guy.”

“No. He isn't. He's made bad decisions, but he's not a bad guy.” Elijah snaps back, Erica rolling her eyes at the comment.

“Come on guys, let's not fight. Let's drop the topic and talk about something else—” Dustin tries to negotiate, Eddie watching as this all unfolds.

“No need, I'm done with the conversation anyway. I said what I wanted to say to Eddie, so, I'll be going now.”

“Elijah—” Dustin tries to conciliate, Eddie grabbing his arm and shaking his head, subtly telling Dustin to leave her. Eddie knows his friend by now, she's frustrated and she made up her mind. Keeping her between the people that caused the frustration will most probably end up in a fight.

He watches as she storms off, a deep sigh resonating from Eddie as he removes his hand from Dustin's arm. “Thanks a lot guys.” He mutters, reclining back into his chair.

“Erica wasn't wrong, Eddie. Billy is not a good person, and Elijah needs to know that. Don't blame us for warning her. That guy is trouble.” Lucas defends his sister. Eddie sighs again, conflicted with the whole situation.

“I know that.” He finally answers, Dustin looking up at him with a perplexed expression.

“So if you know this, why don't you tell her that?” Dustin asks him, confounded by Eddie's behavior.